Critical Thoughts

Dr. Asri’s arrest and subsequent release on police bail by JAIS came as a total surprise to me. The reason given by them for his arrest is even more incredulous. If he were some unknown, obscure individuals known to only a few people, there might be some reasoning to the claim that he was arrested because he has no “tauliah” (certificate of authenticity) to teach Islam in Selangor. However, Dr. Asri is not an “unknown” individual. He was the former Mufti of Perlis and prior to that, he was already lecturing in USM and has his own religious institute, Institut al-Qayyim. What more “tauliah” do you need in order to disperse any aspersions on Dr. Asri’s qualifications?

A particular character from JAKIM has appeared to cast doubt on Dr. Asri’s qualifications. I feel that it is him that is behind this current fracas, not anyone else. This character is a well-known idealogue of the Al-Ahbash group and has always been opposed to the Sunnah movement in Malaysia. If he was involved in this issue, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Should I name this person? I don’t feel that is necessary. He knows who I am referring to.